400 gallon project

[untamed]

The female Blue Throat has eluded me on every capture technique. I spent last evening trying to fish her out with a hook...but she's too cautious (or not yet hungry enough!)

Meanwhile, the male Blue Throat has been delivered to the Vancouver Aquarium. Here he is in quarantine. In typical Trigger fashion, he refused to be removed from his vase. He even stayed put when the vase was emptied of water and held upsidedown! So...I left the vase with them. They can return it later when he decides the world is not ending.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/000_0380.jpg

Here is the tank he'll be moving to. It is their nearly 11,000 gallon tropical fish display. I'm confident that he'll be much happier there. I'll have to go back and see him 30 days from now.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/000_0375.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/000_0378.jpg

[michika]

A nice sweet happy ending for them!

[wiszmaster]

...
The final big step was just completed. I gave up on being able to design the light lifter so well that I could have some aluminum fabricator build it perfectly....so I built it from 2x2.


Here's the completed frames. This is a picture of both the upper and lower frames with the actuator fully lifted such that the lower frame is squeezed up against the upper frame. The actuator slides 30" horizontally, while the cables and pulleys tranfer the horizontal movement into vertical movement.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Aquarium%20Construction/100_0079.jpg


That is great ... i've been thinking about doing something similar ... are you still liking the design as is, or would you do something different next time around?

Great looking tank!


Thanks,

marco

[untamed]

That is great ... i've been thinking about doing something similar ... are you still liking the design as is, or would you do something different next time around?

Great looking tank!


Thanks,

marco

That light lifter has worked perfectly and I think it might be the greatest technical achievement of the tank design. The only thing I would do differently is to make it out of aluminum. The wooden 2x2's are a bit flexible and one of the lights hangs slightly lower than the others.

[Delphinus]

Any luck catching the female bluethroat yet?

That's way cool that the aquarium will take them though. I had sort of figured that you can't approach them with requests to take livestock as it sort of opens up a precedent you'd think they would rather avoid. (eg., "So I have this 6 foot blacktip shark that needs a home..." :eek:) But still, it would be really neat going to the aquarium and seeing your old "friends" like that.

There was a time I was contemplating approaching the aquarium to donate my ritteri as it's quite a large monster, and the cost to keep a tank running that's dedicated to it, keeps me from running a single "really nice" system. On the one hand, I'd hate to give up on it, after so many years it's sort of become my "one true identity" in this hobby ("the guy with the ridiculously large anemone") and it's the one thing I can truly post about with any authority on the subject over at RC .. but on the other hand, I look at tanks like yours and wish I could do something close to it ... but I'm more or less anchored unless I give it away. If the aquarium were interested, that would be a really cool send off knowing that they went to a facility where the public could enjoy seeing such a display.

Anyhow sorry for the off topic rambing. Very nifty, next time I make it to the aquarium I'll be looking for the big pair of bluethroats. :)

[BC564]

That tank is very impressive.....I first saw your tank thread a year ago ......Im glad I got to finish reading it today...and look forward to continued posts on it.....I have my own thoughts of a XL tank one day and automating it ......your thread has helped alot in the process mechanical end of things.....

Thanks

[untamed]

Some fishy photos...because I was practicing in preparation for the photo seminar this weekend.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/000_0090-1.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/000_0091-1.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/000E0093.jpg

Am I supposed to have the fish swimming to the left...or to the right?

[Chowder]

I think your supposed to mix it up.

[BC564]

From the second pic...it would appear your urchin is getting quite big or very close in the foreground.

[untamed]

From the second pic...it would appear your urchin is getting quite big or very close in the foreground.

Yes, that hatpin urchin is probably 10" in diametre. When I got HIM, he was maybe 2". There are two urchins in the tank. One hitchiked in on the LR. The hitchiker urchin is smaller, with generally shorter spines. That one has grown from <1" to about 3". Both eat coraline.

There is a display of Bengaii Cardinal Fish with Hatpin urchins at the Vancouver Aquarium. The young Cardinals are supposed to hide in the urchin spines, but I saw no evidence of that in the display. None of their urchins were as large as mine, and they are clearly the same species.

[BC564]

well obviously they are getting their fill of coraline.....

[untamed]

Big day today. Spent nearly 3 hours replacing all my bulbs. I've got to Geisemann 13000K. A job that should take 5 minutes takes 3 hours in part because of the foolish design of the Aquamedic light fixtures. Changing the halides and flourescents requires removal of 20 screws on each fixture.

Is it Aquamedic's fault?...or my fault?...or just the way it is?.... I cannot get a 250W MH DE bulb to go into the fixture!!!! It might take me 30 minutes or more of fighting with the bulb to finally get it to click into place. I break the ceramic tab on the bulb about 50% of the time.

Very frustrating job and I'm glad I don't intend to do it more than 1x per year. So far, I'm happy with the look the new bulbs are providing.

[Tom R]

HI brad

My Geisemann fixture requires just one screw and then you slide out the 3 glass panels clean them and while they dry change out the lights. Total time maybe 15 minutes for 3 lights.

You should have had some off us help you after the camera clinic.

Tom R

[Big Al's BC]

Big day today. Spent nearly 3 hours replacing all my bulbs. I've got to Geisemann 13000K. A job that should take 5 minutes takes 3 hours in part because of the foolish design of the Aquamedic light fixtures. Changing the halides and flourescents requires removal of 20 screws on each fixture.

Is it Aquamedic's fault?...or my fault?...or just the way it is?.... I cannot get a 250W MH DE bulb to go into the fixture!!!! It might take me 30 minutes or more of fighting with the bulb to finally get it to click into place. I break the ceramic tab on the bulb about 50% of the time.

Very frustrating job and I'm glad I don't intend to do it more than 1x per year. So far, I'm happy with the look the new bulbs are providing.

Yes, changing the bulbs on an Aquamedic fixture is intense. Did you access all the bulbs from one end? You should only have to remove the far side panel, then slide the lenses down one end. Same with the fluorescents. It is very easy to damage the sockets when you are putting the bulbs back. We use a tiny slotted screwdriver to spread open the socket while inserting the bulb. Makes installation a lot easier. Obviously this is with the power off!:biggrin:
Depending on the age o your fixture, some of the sockets have been known to arc with the failure of the retaining clip in the socket. If you think the bulb change is painful, wait until you need to replace a socket!

Big Al's BC

[Skimmerking]

Brad I know what you feel like I had a awesome pair of Aqua medic pendants, once. until i had to change the bulbs and ended up breaking a 100 dollar bulb and ended up arcing the socket , got mad at the fixture and ended up selling them really cheap just to get rid of them. they were fan cooled ballasts and electronic ballasts too. oh well that is why i will never go back to HQI ever again i will stay with the Moguls i like them for changing alot bettre and i dont break the bulbs. I wish that the 250 w were like the 150 w alot easier to change too.


oh well

[untamed]

Thanks for confirming that it isn't just me. I'm lucky so far that I haven't broken a bulb. I do use a slot screwdriver to try to spread the contacts just before I put the bulb in. Life time of these fixtures is probably 4 or 5 years...by then, I'm sure I'll be moving to LEDs.

[SEAN DUFFY]

unbelievable tank probably the best i've ever seen outside an aquarium park how much are you in for if you don't mind me asking? does the wife approve?

[Los]

Brad-

I (finally) finished your tank thread. All I can say is "WOW". You are an inspiration. One day...

Thanks again for all your help over at RC.

Cheers,

Los

[Myka]

There is a display of Bengaii Cardinal Fish with Hatpin urchins at the Vancouver Aquarium. The young Cardinals are supposed to hide in the urchin spines, but I saw no evidence of that in the display.

The babies do hide in the spines of the Diadema urchins. They don't do it for very long though, just while they're really small. :)

[untamed]

Here's a group of photos now that the new lights are in. There are some new fish in these shots if you look closely.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0403.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0406.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0405.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0404.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0402.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0401.jpg

[Jason McK]

Cool a look down Fish. I heard a rumor you got one. How is it behaving

J

[skylord]

Now that really follows the untamed theme! Nice.

Scott

[Pan]

Thanks for confirming that it isn't just me. I'm lucky so far that I haven't broken a bulb. I do use a slot screwdriver to try to spread the contacts just before I put the bulb in. Life time of these fixtures is probably 4 or 5 years...by then, I'm sure I'll be moving to LEDs.
Naw by then we'll be using Plasma bulbs...google it :) 6000 degrees Kelvin. same intensity of the sun :)

[untamed]

Naw by then we'll be using Plasma bulbs...google it :) 6000 degrees Kelvin. same intensity of the sun :)

I was hoping to get AWAY from a chiller....!

[untamed]

Cool a look down Fish. I heard a rumor you got one. How is it behaving

J

It was a bit shy of the other fish at first, but now it gets right into the feeding frenzy and eats like the others. Does not sleep in the rockwork at night. It seems to just hang in the open water all night. I think it is a pretty cool fish. I suppose we'll see how large he gets...how fast. For the most part, every fish I have is going to be too large for him to eat. (with a couple of exceptions!)

Maybe it is like keeping small fish with a shark....keep him well fed and he won't be interested in catching fish.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/000_0385-1.jpg

[Tom R]

Hi Brad

Great looking fish. You need 3 or 4 more to give your tank the open ocean look.

That's a very nice addition. He will look great swimming in that middle water area.

Tom R

[untamed]

Hi Brad

Great looking fish. You need a 3 or 4 more to give your tank the open ocean look.

That's a very nice addition. He will look great swimming in that middle water area.

Tom R

Ha..ha...No, I think I'll stick with one. I don't want to push my luck that far!

[michika]

You always find some of the most amazing livestock to add to your system. Did you ever have a long term livestock plan, or do you just take it as it comes and add as you see fit?

[untamed]

You always find some of the most amazing livestock to add to your system. Did you ever have a long term livestock plan, or do you just take it as it comes and add as you see fit?

I didn't have a fish "wish list" when I began to get fish...but I've been doing this long enough to recognize something interesting/appropriate when I see it. Also...having a very large tank, I'm fortunate that I can now purchase some things that were off-limits before.

Sometimes, I get it wrong. I just purchased a juvenile Naso from JL because I was certain it was NOT Naso literalus....but I was wrong. Now...he needs to find another home because I already have Naso elegans...I was hoping I had found Naso unicornis because it is almost impossible to tell them apart when they are young.

I kind of regret purchasing the Foxface...Now, I'm wishing I had held out to find a Magnificent Rabbitfish instead. So...sometimes I do the same thing as all of us...buy a fish without a lot of forethought.

Now that I'm having to be more selective about additional fish, there is a list. (I'm not going to share it, so don't ask...!) The Atlantic Blue Tang was on the list, but I got one of those a few weeks ago.

[michika]

Thank you, very informative!

[digital-audiophile]

Sorry if I missed it, but did you get your scrubbing pads and manage to get the scratches out of the tank?

[Pan]

I didn't have a fish "wish list" when I began to get fish...but I've been doing this long enough to recognize something interesting/appropriate when I see it. Also...having a very large tank, I'm fortunate that I can now purchase some things that were off-limits before.

Sometimes, I get it wrong. I just purchased a juvenile Naso from JL because I was certain it was NOT Naso literalus....but I was wrong. Now...he needs to find another home because I already have Naso elegans...I was hoping I had found Naso unicornis because it is almost impossible to tell them apart when they are young.

I kind of regret purchasing the Foxface...Now, I'm wishing I had held out to find a Magnificent Rabbitfish instead. So...sometimes I do the same thing as all of us...buy a fish without a lot of forethought.

Now that I'm having to be more selective about additional fish, there is a list. (I'm not going to share it, so don't ask...!) The Atlantic Blue Tang was on the list, but I got one of those a few weeks ago.
Do you find your atlantic blue tang a shy fish? Mine seems sort of shy, mind you he is new in the tank two days..but he will not leave the Tomini Tangs side. They are like best buddies, swim everywhere together.

[untamed]

Do you find your atlantic blue tang a shy fish? Mine seems sort of shy, mind you he is new in the tank two days..but he will not leave the Tomini Tangs side. They are like best buddies, swim everywhere together.

I was certainly afraid for his safety when I first added the Atlantic Blue. Achilles was brutal to the White Cheek Tang...but the Altantic Blue got off easy. I think Achilles was just too busy to notice. Would only eat mysis for about 1 week, but has since begun taking clam and pellets, that's when I know a fish is going to be OK. Mine is not really shy...but he's bottom of the pecking order due to size, so that kind of defines his personality at the moment.

[untamed]

Testing out a new camera.... Not advertising...but this thing shoots good video!

Hmmm...it would seem that Photobucket dumbs down the resolution of the video somewhat. Trust me, what you can see here isn't as good as the actual video which is 720P High-Def. (Each video is just a bit over 50Mb)

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/th_100_0004.jpg (http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/?action=view&current=100_0004.flv)
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/th_100_0003.jpg (http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/?action=view&current=100_0003.flv)

[Delphinus]

They look pretty good even if the resolution is dumbed down some! They have a slightly sped up feel to them too, or are they realtime? It sort of looked like it might have been about twice normal speed?

[untamed]

I just timed viewing of the original file...then timed the viewing of the Photobucket version. The Photobucket version takes about 1 second less time to view than the original. Very interesting...you may be on to something there.

The tank was pretty active when I shot it. The fish knew I was there and they hadn't had dinner yet.

[untamed]

Bored....so I thought I would do some photography. It is good to just shoot the tank every now and then for no reason as it helps me to watch the growth.

Moe is such a willing subject...
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0017a.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0036.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/100_0006.jpg

[Pan]

There was a Lookdown for sale locally today....I so almost bought it. I've never seen one in person. Was so cool looking. New fish day is so stressful. :(

[untamed]

Well...I purchased two new fish yesterday. (addiction is tough...) I've got a pair of Orange Spotted Sleeper Gobies. The two of them share living quarters and seem inseparable, so I'm assuming I have a male/female pair.

You can see in the latest pictures, my sand bed is anything but clean. I've long looked for a fish or two that might do the job of munching up the sand. The cuke's do a pretty good job, but they just don't cover enough area fast enough.

These two have gone about immediately building a burrow. In fact, they've surrounded their new home with a good 3" or 4" pile of substrate. It is very dramatic the change in the tank that they have caused in such a short time.

So far, I can't interest them in any food. I'm sure there is a lot of stuff in the sand bed, but I sure would like to see them eating something that I can see.

When they sand-sift, they tend to just sit on the bottom and sift. They don't rise up in the water as they sift, so the sand is generally staying on the ground and not ending up on top of my coral.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0045.jpg

[Pan]

Well...I purchased two new fish yesterday. (addiction is tough...) I've got a pair of Orange Spotted Sleeper Gobies. The two of them share living quarters and seem inseparable, so I'm assuming I have a male/female pair.

You can see in the latest pictures, my sand bed is anything but clean. I've long looked for a fish or two that might do the job of munching up the sand. The cuke's do a pretty good job, but they just don't cover enough area fast enough.

These two have gone about immediately building a burrow. In fact, they've surrounded their new home with a good 3" or 4" pile of substrate. It is very dramatic the change in the tank that they have caused in such a short time.

So far, I can't interest them in any food. I'm sure there is a lot of stuff in the sand bed, but I sure would like to see them eating something that I can see.

When they sand-sift, they tend to just sit on the bottom and sift. They don't rise up in the water as they sift, so the sand is generally staying on the ground and not ending up on top of my coral.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0045.jpg
Cool Looking picture, I have a ladder glider that does the same thing...they really can do wonders for sandbeds.

[untamed]

OK..these two are quite the busybodies...Anyone who is tuning into the webcam is getting a good show of how busy these two are. Compare these pictures, and look at what they have accomplished in only 2 days!

The tank is often milky as they are disturbing a lot of really fine sediment. There is so much water movement that this sediment doesn't seem to be settling on anything yet. It may lead me to run mechanical filtration of some kind. Or, it might just clean itself out as they keep at it. Regardless, these guys are doing a marvellous job of cleaning my sand (and stacking it!)

Before Gobies:
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/100_0006.jpg

After Gobies: (check out the sand pile around the rock in the middle)
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0053.jpg

"The chomp line"...
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0056.jpg

[Tom R]

Hi Brad

You are pretty lucky.

In my tank those two gobies would have made their little home somewhere down the back of the tank, never to be seen again.

Tom R

[digital-audiophile]

Your tank just keeps getting better with age!

[vazgor]

i was wondering if you could post a link to your web cam again i seam to have missed it and i would love to see your tank in real time
thanks

[Pan]

i was wondering if you could post a link to your web cam again i seam to have missed it and i would love to see your tank in real time
thanks

http://brads-aquarium.viewnetcam.com:50000/

[Joe Reefer]

I love those diamond gobys, I had one in an old tank then one day he never came out of his home. Mine used cover his hole every night then dig himself back out the next day. Do yours do that?

[untamed]

I love those diamond gobys, I had one in an old tank then one day he never came out of his home. Mine used cover his hole every night then dig himself back out the next day. Do yours do that?


Yes, every night they close up the entrance to their burrow. I'm watching them very closely to ensure they are eating something. Right now, I'm injecting mysis into the sand so they can "find" them in their regular chomping. I hope I don't need to that for very long. Typical of most new fish, they are a bit thin when you get them.

[rattler]

Congrats on over 90,000 views.

I'm glad that I tuned in many months ago, so that I didn't have to read it all over again. I must say there were many idea's that came from your system that I incorporated in mine!
Thank you!

Cheers!
Geoff

[Marlin65]

Nice additions too your tank I was thinking about you today OA has a nice Majestic angel there a big one he must be at least 5" I thought he would fit in your tank quite well.

[Marlin65]

Did you get another cleaner I only saw one when I was there?

[argan]

It looks like the gorgonians on that rock contracted the gobies to build them a wall around their property. :P

[untamed]

Nice additions too your tank I was thinking about you today OA has a nice Majestic angel there a big one he must be at least 5" I thought he would fit in your tank quite well.

I was also at OA today. They actually had two of those Majestics. Ran into TomR at the same time...small world. I wonder how long it takes a Majestic to get that large? Mine is nice and fat, but isn't growing noticeably. (not like the Vlamingi, who I swear gets bigger every single day. He just passed the White Cheek Tank in overall size a few days ago)

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/000_0295.jpg

I did start with one cleaner, but added the 2nd one quite a while ago. They split up frequently, so they both may have been there.

[untamed]

It looks like the gorgonians on that rock contracted the gobies to build them a wall around their property. :P

I have a couple of non-fishy friends that drop by regularly to see the tank and they thought I built the mound myself. They couldn't believe that the fish did it in only a few days.

They build so fast that they buried a large snail. When the snail decided to move out, it caused a collapse near their entrance. It was really amazing to watch them set about to repair it because they carefully selected large objects to fill the hole. The larger one grabbed a very large rock from some ways away and dropped it directly over the hole. The smaller one then manipulated that rock to test fit it a few different ways before they moved on to bury that rock with additional small rubble.

Another entertaining few minutes at the tank!

[untamed]

For some time now, I've been challenged to keep the tank's alkalinity up. Each time I noticed the alk falling, I would increase the flow to the reactor a bit. Eventually, I hit the max output of my pump (117ml/min)...and began to think..."this isn't right!".

My Ca/Alk usage shouldn't be extremely high...yet. My corals aren't large enough and there are lots of other tanks with much more coral that haven't max'd their Ca reactor.

One popular theory was that I was flowing so much water through the reactor that I was not allowing time for the media to dissolve. I began to measure the alk output of the reactor. My first reading was 13! (I was hearing other people had readings over 20).

So I began to turn the reactor flow down, and measure the output every day. I got right down to 65ml/minute and the alk had only increased to 14. No...this wasn't a flow problem.

So I started working on the pH. I dropped the pH of the reactor from 6.6 to 6.55...no change. I dropped the pH to 6.50, no change....

Then, I recalibrated my pH probe and dropped the reactor to 6.45. Alkalinity jumped to 24! As always, because I had done two things I don't know which solved the problem. I strongly suspect that the probe had become inaccurate.

Anyway...the lesson learned is.."Calibrate your reactor pH probe frequently".

[untamed]

The gobies continue to make a remarkable difference to the overall look of the tank. My entire sand bed is now perfectly clean and tossed, all the time. The down side is that the water column is not as clear as before. There is always some very fine sediment being kicked up by the gobies somewhere. I'm hoping it clears out eventually, but I can live with it if it doesn't.

Twice now, the gobies (Bonnie and Clyde) have piled up the gravel so high that it starts to cover some corals on the lower rocks. They have smothered a couple of corals and some have had some die back.

Bonnie (the smaller one) gave us a bit of a scare recently when she disappeared for nearly 3 days. From what I've read, this might be consistent with breeding behaviour. It is possible that she would have disappeared for longer if her health had been enough to sustain her in her burrow. As is, it may have been a practice run.

Enough words...here's some pictures!

The Atlantic Blue Tang is really striking colour. It is really hard to describe, but I've come close to capturing it with this picture.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0079.jpg

The dynamic digging duo....
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0075.jpg

Pitstop at the cleaning station...
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/th_100_0084.jpg (http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/?action=view&current=100_0084.flv)

[Pan]

Beautiful Atlantic Tang.
Mine has blue edges and just a hint of blue anywhere else, still very young.

[untamed]

It would seem that I've got a thing for Naso Tangs. (I think it is those big doe eyes)....Here is my latest addition - Naso unicornis. I do hope he is a male, because I would love to see him develop a horn. I suppose I won't know for a year or so.

He doesn't nearly have the appetite of the elegans or the vlamingi. In fact, so far he has not shown any interest in nori at all. As a result, he's not packing on as much weight as I would like...but he seems to be doing OK on a diet of mostly formula 1, 2 and mysis.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/000_0454.jpg

Since I'm talking about Nasos...here's a shot of the three amigos. The really significant thing about this picture is the fact that the vlamingi (Freckles) is almost as large as the elegans (Moe). It was only almost three months ago that the vlamingi tang would have been 1/5 the size of the elegans (Moe). Between the two of them, they eat 1/4 sheet of Nori less than a minute....
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/000_0444.jpg

[Chaloupa]

Gorgeous tang collection..and the picture is beautiful!

[Tom R]

Hi Brad

If you get any more Tangs you will have to change your (untamed) to something like Tangs Unlimited.

Looks great Brad

Tom R

[untamed]

The educated eye might have noticed the fourth Naso (literatus) in the background. I'm not allowing myself to get attached to that one as he/she is going to go to another home someday soon. Three is certainly enough.

I'm done with large fish. No more (fingers crossed). Even with 400 gallons of swimming room, you have to draw the line somewhere. The only fish left on the 'list' are some small coral gobies, and some very small affordable schooling fish (ie: food for the Lookdown!) I'm wondering if damsels will school if they are frightened enough....? These won't be added until the coral has grown up enough to offer protection.

The vision is to recreate what I've seen many times in THE aquarium, where the school hovers above a coral head and disappears into it when threatened.

Does that sound untamed enough, Tom?

[untamed]

FTV's...

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0455.jpg

For those who haven't had a drink at the bar for themselves....
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0456.jpg

The view that only I see...(this is the far back corner, viewable only from one small spot in the fishroom.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0459.jpg

[Jason McK]

Looks Great Brad

J

[Pan]

Awesome, your fish look very very healthy. Way to go! :)
What about some chalk bass for a schooling fish? I was going to do blue stripe/eye cardinals but only have one left :(

[Sebae again]

Tank looks great. A tip about schooling fish is get them all at once from the same school at the LFS and even get a couple extra in case a couple don't survive. Fish from different schools may not bond and even if the same species can kill each other, even timid fish like chromis.

[Tom R]

The vision is to recreate what I've seen many times in THE aquarium, where the school hovers above a coral head and disappears into it when threatened.

Does that sound untamed enough, Tom?

That sounds great. Your own wild kingdom. A snorkeling trip to Brad's house is a lot cheaper than a trip to the Caribbean.

Tom R

[christyf5]

Woo, looky at all that white sand. Those gobies have been busy!! :biggrin:

[untamed]

Woo, looky at all that white sand. Those gobies have been busy!! :biggrin:

Yes...it is completely different. It is far cleaner than I was ever able to make it by vaccuuming.

[Delphinus]

Just out of curiousity (and apologies if you've answered this before) but do you plan on replacing the sand at any kind of interval?

Without trying to open up too much debate on this topic, I'm sort of torn, for my 280, I want the benefits of a clean BB tank, but I like the look of a sandbed (at least when it's nice and clean). But I have to admit that there's no way that over the typical lifespan of a reef tank that I'm going to keep up with weekly vacuuming and whatnot. But then again, I don't want the sand for filtration, I just want it to look like a sea floor and not an aquarium floor.

[untamed]

Just out of curiousity (and apologies if you've answered this before) but do you plan on replacing the sand at any kind of interval?

Without trying to open up too much debate on this topic, I'm sort of torn, for my 280, I want the benefits of a clean BB tank, but I like the look of a sandbed (at least when it's nice and clean). But I have to admit that there's no way that over the typical lifespan of a reef tank that I'm going to keep up with weekly vacuuming and whatnot. But then again, I don't want the sand for filtration, I just want it to look like a sea floor and not an aquarium floor.

I don't plan on replacing the sand. Further, it would seem that I will NEVER have to vaccuum the sand bed ever again. The tank is BB at the back and the sand varies in depth (depending on the mood of the Gobies) from less than 1" to over 4". At this depth and movement, I don't think the sand bed is providing any kind of anaerobic filtration.

The gobies have achieved the (almost) perfect compromise. Their downside is that they tend to place sand on top of the display rocks from time to time. This can bury a coral and do a lot of damage fast. They don't do it all the time, and I think that it is a breeding behaviour that causes them to suddenly decide to build a new mountain. (more on that later)

For me..I dislike the look of BB tanks. I was prepared to live with the sand as dirty as it was. Now, it is beautifully clean, but I have to pay a bit more attention to turkey basting than I used to and lower placed corals are at risk of being buried.

[Pan]

Just out of curiousity (and apologies if you've answered this before) but do you plan on replacing the sand at any kind of interval?

Without trying to open up too much debate on this topic, I'm sort of torn, for my 280, I want the benefits of a clean BB tank, but I like the look of a sandbed (at least when it's nice and clean). But I have to admit that there's no way that over the typical lifespan of a reef tank that I'm going to keep up with weekly vacuuming and whatnot. But then again, I don't want the sand for filtration, I just want it to look like a sea floor and not an aquarium floor.

Get a strip of fiberglass sheeting...make the shapes you want..bumps, valleys etc..expoxy aragonite over it :) the thin fiberglass(like thick paper...)

[chris c]

do you have any problems with water clarity becuse of the sand and gobies. This is the problem i am having in my 280g but i dont know if it is from the sand or the 6 large tangs that i have.

Chris

[untamed]

do you have any problems with water clarity becuse of the sand and gobies. This is the problem i am having in my 280g but i dont know if it is from the sand or the 6 large tangs that i have.

Chris

The gobies certainly kick up some sand. It is 100% caused by the gobies. It is not that they directly kick up the sand, but they frequently deposit it directly in front of a CL outlet. As soon as the outlet fires, it shoots sand into the water column.

There are good times and bad times. I find it acceptable, but I'm sure other people would not.

[untamed]

Mostly, the goby behaviour is good. They munch away on the sand...dig under the rocks...and generally keep the tank looking very nice.

Unfortunately, from time to time, the male goby (I think the larger one is the male) seems to get obsessive about building a gigantic mound of sand that covers entire rocks and corals. If left undisturbed, I think he would attempt to move the entire sand bed into one large pyramid.

Here's a photo of his handiwork. The scary thing about this photo is that it took him ONLY 2 HOURS TO DO THIS. Only 2 hours earlier, I moved all this sand away.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0021.jpg

Now..the reason that I am blaming HIM for all this is that the female has disappeared again. It seems that when the female holes up (last time it was 3 days), the male starts this obsessive building behaviour. I don't know where the female is, but I strongly suspect she is under the pile trying to tend to some eggs.

[Midknight]

If so... first dibs on a baby.:wink:

[untamed]

Female goby has returned (again...3 or 4 days). Yesterday, she appeared briefly only for feeding time. Today, she was out and about much more. After a little observation of her coming and going, I realized that they have tunnelled completely under a 3 foot rock.

They have entrances at both ends. If you look at the previous picture, that's about where the front door is (the male goby has buried the door in the photo) The back door is right close to the back wall of the tank...about 2 feet away.

No danger of rock shifting. All my rock was placed directly on the tank bottom. They must have found a hollow tunnel under the rock.

The male goby has returned to more tolerable behaviour....for now.

[Mom]

I've been riding along with this thread since the beginning. At > 100,000 hits, many of which were mine, I think it's time for me to express my appreciation. Thanks, Untamed, for all the fascinating information and entertaining video clips and images. Don't stop now. Your system is in place, but there is still much growth and change for us to monitor. Thanks again.:biggrin:

[untamed]

Ha...ha...and congratulations on your first post! You are always welcome to come see the live show.

Brad.

[JDigital]

Well... I just read thru ALL 58 pages in full! Took me about 3-4 hours I think.

I must commend you are such a project! The tank is truly amazing. :biggrin:

[untamed]

A quick update:

All is well with the tank. The coral and fish grow...I chase the male goby around trying to remove his sand piles...I clean the glass and do water changes...I chop seafood, I chop seafood...The tank has just fallen into a rhythm.

All the frags I purchased at the recent auction are doing fine. I haven't lost a single one. (although one was foolishly attached near the green carpet and is being harrassed by the anemone) Only one has blossomed into what I paid for, so far.

One of the larger fish fragged my huge green digitata last night. Broke off a 6" branch and you can hardly notice it. If you look closely at this photo, you can see the spot where the branch was broken off.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/101_0099.jpg

Here are some interesting pics...The first is the Atlantic Blue Tang on April 29...the second is the same fish on June 2. Why is my Atlantic Blue tang turning yellow?

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0079.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/101_0088.jpg

Moe is definitely developing some streamers, so it looks like we don't have to change his name to Moe-reen!
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/101_0089.jpg

[Delphinus]

Your tank is looking absolutely fabulous except for one horrendous little thing. It is completely overrun with gorgonians! You need to get rid of them at once. I can offer my services as a gorgonian disposal. I'm here for you man, and it's only your best interests that I have at heart with this most generous offer. :)

Fish look great, corals look great, everything looks great. Interesting about the tang. I wonder if it's a sort of "teenaged" colouration?

[untamed]

Your tank is looking absolutely fabulous except for one horrendous little thing. It is completely overrun with gorgonians! You need to get rid of them at once. I can offer my services as a gorgonian disposal. I'm here for you man, and it's only your best interests that I have at heart with this most generous offer. :)

Fish look great, corals look great, everything looks great. Interesting about the tang. I wonder if it's a sort of "teenaged" colouration?

I'll keep you in mind, Tony! I'm sure it is those fern-like ones that you like. The larger, candelabra-type, seem pretty easy to come by. In that front cluster, there is one single blade-gorgonian. Unfortunately for you, those gorgonians are growing extremely slowly. I would predict a frag to be available in 2012.

[JDigital]

That's trigger torcher. LOL

Very interesting.

I just checked your tank thread over on 3reef....

Very Impressive! You and Untamed are true Kings! lol

[Marlin65]

Tank looks great love the sand sifters, and Moe is one fine fish.:mrgreen:

[Snappy]

Your tank has come a long way and looking good. Can't wait to see it in another year after things have really filled out. Keep up the good work.:biggrin:

[Mik_101]

FTS plzz:biggrin:

[untamed]

FTS plzz:biggrin:

Well...it hasn't even been 1 month since the last bunch of FTS. Here you go. (you made me clean that bottom 1 inch of 'glas to get these....)

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/101_0105.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/101_0104.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/101_0103.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/101_0100.jpg

[Chaloupa]

FREAKIN GORGEOUS!

[mseepman]

Looks awesome!!!!

[Snappy]

Very nice !!!:mrgreen:

[untamed]

Thanks all....As Snappy said..."another year"...

I'm personally very surprised with how it looks at this point. I did not expect it to look like this after 1 year. I figured it would take 2 or 3 years before it started to look quite nice, but coral grows a lot quicker in this tank than they ever did in my old one.

Brad.

[Delphinus]

Wow, really, really nice Brad...

[Lance]

Inspiring!!!

[Midknight]

I don't know... I think those bar stools look kind of empty to me.:wink:
Yes, after some thought I think they need some butts on them. I will gladly offer mine to cover one of them at anytime you need. :lol:

[Chaloupa]

I don't know... I think those bar stools look kind of empty to me.:wink:
Yes, after some thought I think they need some butts on them. I will gladly offer mine to cover one of them at anytime you need. :lol:

And just think how cheap refreshments would be for ya.....we'd be too busy looking at the tank to worry about having drinks!

[michika]

How has your fish room changed since you first set up this system, or has it? When you planned out your tank room did you over plan, or leave extra space for future unknown improvements?

[untamed]

How has your fish room changed since you first set up this system, or has it? When you planned out your tank room did you over plan, or leave extra space for future unknown improvements?

I made only 1 change to the original plan, and that was the addition of the refugium. That used up just about all the flexible space that I had to work with.

I have the ability to improve the skimmer, provided I stay with an in-sump model. That area was designed to accomodate a skimmer up to 7 feet tall, 18" square. Outside of that, it is really difficult to make many changes back there because everything is crammed in. Right now, it is working, so I'm not inclined to make any changes.

[Mik_101]

FREAKIN GORGEOUS!

I agree.

[Parker]

I've lost count of how many times i have read through this thread. Your hard work is paying off in a big way!

[untamed]

Spec of the water change system has now been included on pg. 3 of this build thread.

[JDigital]

Spec of the water change system has now been included on pg. 3 of this build thread.

SLICK!! haha... that is soo sweet!

[untamed]

I got bored, so I took some updated pictures of the fish. They grow and you don't really notice unless you take some pictures from time to time.

Someone crashed into the large green digitata again last night and broke off a good 8" piece. The purple digitata has also lost a few inches. Digis are so fragile and the fish are getting pretty large...

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/101_0167.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/101_0165.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/101_0155.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/101_0161.jpg

[untamed]

Last summer, I ran into some concerning high temperature problems. Normally, the tank warms during the day from the MH lights, then cools overnight in a daily cycle. While I was away, no one was home to open a window at night and the house got very warm. The tank wasn't cooling down at night and each day it increased in temperature..at one point hitting over 86 degrees.

So this year, I had a heat pump installed on the house. As we have had a very hot week, it was the first test of whether this would keep the house (and therefore, the tank) under control. It works perfectly.

The tank has a daily temperature cycle of between 78 and 82 degrees. While that isn't perfect, it seems good enough.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Aquarium%20Construction/101_0203.jpg

[untamed]

When I had my hair algae problems, I built a refugium into the system.

For details on this, refer to pg. 34 of this thread.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=28436&page=34

Anyway, this is what the "refugium" has turned into. It has become a lot more like an "algae filter" than a refugium. As near as I can see, there is nothing living in the refugium at all except for hair algae and cyano. It is truly disgusting. If I didn't scoop frothy cyano off the surface every week or two, the entire surface would be covered.

There is still a lump of chaeto in there, but it is completely engulfed by cyano and hair algae.

There is no cyano or hair algae in the display tank, so it would seem that this system is working perfectly. Using the best testing methods I am aware of, I cannot measure any nitrate or phosphates in my system.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Aquarium%20Construction/101_0204.jpg

[untamed]

"Jeckyl" (the bicolour angel) had a run-in with somebody last night. He probably deserved it...he tends to behave like he is larger than he really is.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/000_0134.jpg

Meanwhile, these two just get bigger and fatter. I think that "Freckles" (vlamingi) is beginning to get his hump-nose!
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/000_0123.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/000_0132.jpg

[Delphinus]

W O W.

What and how much do you feed the vlamingi?

[Jason McK]

Wow is right. What beautiful fish

J

[untamed]

W O W.

What and how much do you feed the vlamingi?

A typical daily tank feeding is:
5 tsp of small pellets (Formula 1 or 2 or mix)
1 x 8x8" Nori sheet
2 x 3/4" clams or mussels
2 x 1" rings of squid
2 x 1" tentacles of squid or octopus.

Sometimes 2 x 1" shrimp are substituted for the octopus.

The Lookdown only eats squid/octopus or pellets. It does not eat clam/mussels or Nori.
The N. vlamingi eats everything except fingers.
The N. elegans eats only pellets and Nori.
The wrasse eats everything except Nori.
The rest of the Tangs eat everything, but I think they prefer the clam and the Nori.

Here's tonight's dinner. There are only two pieces of Nori since they had the other half for lunch. Pellets are for lunch also.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/000_0140.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/000_0142.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/000_0143.jpg

[karazy]

wow, i just looked through this whole thing and it took me an hour and a half. i think this is amazing

bravo!

[untamed]

I finally discovered that I could get a decent photo of the Achilles Tang when he slows for a moment to eat. He only spends enough time at the clip for about 3 pecks before doing another lap or two of the tank and returning for another 3 pecks. Just a really, really active fish. I'm sure this is the reason that they do so poorly in aquariums.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/000_0146.jpg

This evening, all the turbo snails spawned at the same time. Right as the lights went out, I noticed that they were generally clustered around the right overflow. About 20 of them managed to cloud up the tank pretty well. I tried to get some photos, but they just came out looking like snails.

[untamed]

These two photos are about 4 months apart (Feb/08 - June/08)
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0309.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/101_0114.jpg


Here's another view. These two images are 9 months apart (Nov/07 - Aug/08)
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0175.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0152.jpg

[cprowler]

Very nice! Your getting great growth and colour...have you changed anything or just keeping things steady and consistent?

[Chaloupa]

WOW! Fantastic growth!!! Looks amazing!

[untamed]

Very nice! Your getting great growth and colour...have you changed anything or just keeping things steady and consistent?

I haven't really changed much. There's been a lot of Ca reactor adjusting as the demand has increased over the year. I'm still having to add a lot of bicarbonate every week in order to keep the alk up.

I'm pretty cautious about trying anything new. I figure that if it is working, just keep doing it.

[Sebae again]

WOW ! Who new corals could grow like weeds. How do you keep up with the calcium. Looks fantastic!

[Lance]

Your tank looks terrific. Coral growth is amazing! With results like that I wouldn't try anything new either. Fish & corals obviously agree with what you're doing.

[Snappy]

Your tank is filling in nicely and looks great. Love the fish as well.:biggrin:

[dcook]

:lol:W O W W O W W O W any updates ie pictures

[untamed]

Here are 2 updated tank shots:
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/100_0217.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/100_0219.jpg

Here's a video I called "Follow the fish". I suppose I should figure out how to add music....
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/th_100_0205.jpg (http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/?action=view&current=100_0205.flv)

And finally...a video of some interesting behaviour I've been seeing from the Achilles and White Cheek Tangs. This doesn't look aggressive. I think they are getting frisky... It is also a pretty good example of why Achilles Tangs do better in larger tanks.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/th_100_0222.jpg (http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/?action=view&current=100_0222.flv)

[Jason McK]

The Tank is looking Spectacular Brad.

J

[Snappy]

Lookin' great

[Lance]

Those 2 tangs were having a good ol' time! Tank looks terrific.

[marie]

Ok that's it, I'm getting a bigger tank for my achilles.





Anyone feel like giving to the "get Doofus a bigger home" fund? :razz:

[JDigital]

That is a stellar looking tank! Hmm someday.. :mrgreen:

[Marlin65]

Tank looks great it sure changed since the photo shoot.
Those Tangs sure like to swim love the video.

[mseepman]

Great video on the tangs...amazing how your tank has grown and changed!

[OCDP]

Wooooow !!!

I missed this entire thread.. how unfortunate for me. What an amazing setup.. your fish are so large, fat and happy! The tang video was very interesting.. great vid.

Can't say enough good about that tank... flawless.. I love the look. :biggrin:

[christyf5]

Great videos!! I love that lookdown, such a cool fish :cool:

[dcook]

Any updates, Pictures great reef tank:lol:

[Whatigot]

wow...
I can't believe I never saw this thread until today...
absolutely stunning tank, your bar style stand makes me drool, especially when you take full scape pictures and you can see the reflection on the shiney bar laquer.
Congratulations on this build, it's obvious you have put in some serious blood sweat and tears (not to mention $$$) into it and it's equally as obvious from the comments on this thread (yes, I read it front to back due to terrible stock market conditions) that your methods are succesful both from an aesthetic as well as biological perspective.

I am extremely impressed, even though I've only been reefing for a couple of years.
I thank you from all of us who read, learned from, and thoroughly enjoyed this thread, great that you find the time to post pictures, update your journal and still chop up all that seafood on a daily basis...

You do Coquitlam proud.

[untamed]

I've never managed before to see the clowns lay their eggs. For whatever reason, they choose to do this in the middle of the afternoon the other day. Always have your camera ready!

It had only been three days since the previous batch hatched.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/th_100_0230.jpg (http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/?action=view&current=100_0230.flv)

[steve fedyk]

Great shot of the clowns laying eggs.

[JDigital]

Haha! Nice.. video is always soo much better than pics. :mrgreen:

[Jason McK]

Crazy, Looks like there is quite the line up for the buffet

the fish are looking Great there growth is insane. The Atlantic Blue is such an amazing colour. Now they will mature to the blue colour right?

J

[Tarolisol]

Any luck catching the female bluethroat yet?

That's way cool that the aquarium will take them though. I had sort of figured that you can't approach them with requests to take livestock as it sort of opens up a precedent you'd think they would rather avoid. (eg., "So I have this 6 foot blacktip shark that needs a home..." :eek:) But still, it would be really neat going to the aquarium and seeing your old "friends" like that.

There was a time I was contemplating approaching the aquarium to donate my ritteri as it's quite a large monster, and the cost to keep a tank running that's dedicated to it, keeps me from running a single "really nice" system. On the one hand, I'd hate to give up on it, after so many years it's sort of become my "one true identity" in this hobby ("the guy with the ridiculously large anemone") and it's the one thing I can truly post about with any authority on the subject over at RC .. but on the other hand, I look at tanks like yours and wish I could do something close to it ... but I'm more or less anchored unless I give it away. If the aquarium were interested, that would be a really cool send off knowing that they went to a facility where the public could enjoy seeing such a display.

Anyhow sorry for the off topic rambing. Very nifty, next time I make it to the aquarium I'll be looking for the big pair of bluethroats. :)



Dont worry Tony to me you'll always be the guy who won the pot o gold at the stampede.

[untamed]

Crazy, Looks like there is quite the line up for the buffet

the fish are looking Great there growth is insane. The Atlantic Blue is such an amazing colour. Now they will mature to the blue colour right?

J

Yes, the Atlantic Blue seemed quite interested in the new eggs. Of course, the clowns don't let him anywhere near them. He just has to wait until they hatch...

That Atlantic Blue was blue when I got him, then changed to yellow after some time. That is backwards to what is supposed to happen. I think he reverted to his juvenile colouration when his environment changed. I've read that they sometimes turn a dull grey-blue when they mature.

April 29, 2008
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0079.jpg


June 2, 2008
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/101_0088.jpg

...and when he's in a different mood, he shows vertical stripes...
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/101_0144.jpg

[Delphinus]

Wow, that's wild. Who'd have thunk they can revert? He's actually really pretty with the yellow, easily as nice as the adult colouration.

[untamed]

Could be diet. If so, I'll keep feeding him what I'm feeding him!

[Jason McK]

You have now 2 of my all time fav fish. I hate you LOL

Acanthurus japonicus Powder brown being number 1
and not your Atlantic Blue

Amazing

J

[JDigital]

Geez, I wouldn't even know that Atlantic Blue is the same fish if you wouldn't have said anything about the color changes... and the vertical stripe thing is cool.

[untamed]

I've been having a long term fight keeping alkalinity up. I've been working on maximizing the output of my reactor for the past several months and I finally concluded that I can't get much more out of my existing reactor, so I have decided to purchase more capacity.

Hello...GEO 818. Size matters. The plan is to move to the 818, then add my existing PM "618" eventually when the 818 hits maximum.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Aquarium%20Construction/100_0251.jpg

[Delphinus]

Wow. :eek:

[Jason McK]

Sweet. That's Huge!!!!!

J

[JDigital]

Well, that's BIG!

Impressive. :biggrin:

[michika]

Very nice! Where did it come from?

[Chowder]

Yes very nice indeed, but from where did you get the Geo?

Chris

[untamed]

Premium Aquatics. I couldn't find any local supplier of anything this large.

[Delphinus]

I wonder what the CO2 consumption is going to be like on that bad boy. What's your CO2 rate right now? What size cylinder you running? I imagine if you're not on one already, one of those 70lb'ers must be looking pretty attractive right about now.. :)

[untamed]

You know...my CO2 consumption is not that high. I only have a 10lb tank and it lasts me for 6 months or a year. My current reactor is running at pH 6.4. If I attempt to push more CO2 in than that, the media just turns to mush.

If I attempt to push more water through the existing reactor (more than 70ml/min), the output of the reactor starts to go down and the effluent pH gets really low. (You start flushing CO2 right through the system before it has had adequate time to react to the media)

[justinl]

wow brad, that's cool that you caught that spawing vid. and geez that reactor is big. As if your fish room wasn't impressive enough as it is!

[Phanman]

are you planning on raising the fry at all?

[untamed]

are you planning on raising the fry at all?

Someday, I would like to try. I've done enough reading up on the idea that I know not to try until I have a lot more time and space. If anyone nearby wants to try, I will gladly collect the fry for them. (another batch of eggs should hatch tonight)

[Phanman]

yea i hear its quite time consuming... ive been following this snowflake thread for quite some time and it looks really fun but extremely time consuming.

check it out if you havnt seen it:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/livestock-breeding/32474-rearing-picasso-percula-clownfish.html

[untamed]

It is difficult enough to keep sponges alive long term...I don't need this kind of help from "Freckles". His motivation for this behaviour seems to be that this is where he likes to sleep and he's decided that this sponge is in his way. If I return it to it's regular spot, it is removed within about 1 minute.

This also gives everyone a good idea of just how large the vlamingi is getting. I just checked the records and he came to the tank almost exactly 9 months ago and was about 1" long at that time. Yikes!
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0315.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0314.jpg

Finally, an entertaining video of his sponge clearing skill...with guest appearance by almost every other fish right at the end of the video.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/th_100_0321.jpg (http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/?action=view&current=100_0321.flv)

Now that you've watched the video once, watch it again and notice the brief territorial squabble between two cleaner shrimp on the right...

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Hah!! That is so awesome. Made me laugh....out loud :)

[lastlight]

That tank is just looking incredible. It's current state makes the older tank shots look like a barren wasteland. Holy GROWTH!

[Delphinus]

No kidding. That's one seriously nice tank. I like how the video closes off in a veritable explosion of fish all at once. :)

[JDigital]

I love your video updates.. haha.. Always something cool to be seen.

[Leah]

wow wow wow
It will be amazing Iam in total ahh, can't wait to see more pics.
HUMM, It might just be a secret dream of half the salt lovers out
there. Perhaps not for the partners:twised::cry:
________
Yamaha RT100 (http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Yamaha_RT100)

[marie]

Nice to see all those "fat fish and happy corals" :mrgreen:

[bullit67]

OK with out reading through the whole 50 + pages and the info might not bethere any way Where did you get the plastic tanks you used for the sumps and water storage? every place I have looked only have closed top tanks not open top stuff

Thanks in advance
Doug

[mark]

Wow with the growth, great how it's filling out and love all the different fish.

[justinl]

Holy growth batman! Does the vlamingi damage the sponge when it does that?

I enjoyed the end when moe is like "hey everybody come on over; brad is here! maybe this time he's going to FEED us instead of filming." obviously they all like their food :biggrin:

[Lance]

Your tank is filling in so nicely and so fast. Terrific growth. And the fish all look fat and fit. Great Job! Beautiful tank.

[untamed]

Holy growth batman! Does the vlamingi damage the sponge when it does that?



He doesn't do any damage to the sponge at all. The problem is that the sponge really needs to be sheltered from directly light and he keeps dragging it out.

[justinl]

well you do have a 400g display :wink: isn't there any other caves/overhangs available?

[OCDP]

Awesome video.. quite the fish. I guess he wasn't too happy with the sponge's placement ahah. Thanks for sharing.

[i2ik]

Your tank is looking fantastic! Your fishes and corals are looking great!!!

[Chowder]

Hey Brad how about a updated FTS.

Thanks Chris

[untamed]

Hey Brad how about a updated FTS.

Thanks Chris

Soon. I have to spend a few days cleaning the mirrors, replacing the motors in the fish and repainting some of the coral...

[fishytime]

:lol:

[JDigital]

Wow! Congratulations on TOTM for Nov. That's a huge honor and well deserved IMO. :mrgreen:

[untamed]

Thanks very much. For those who subscribe to this thread and might not have seen the TOTM write up....here's the link:
http://canreef.com/ftotm/nov08/index.php

[Snaz]

It's late, I spent one hour at work and another three tonight reading this entire thread closely.

What I can say that hasn't already been said before so I will just say thank-you to you and your wife for a beautiful tank and showing me just what is possible with a dream, gumption and big wallet. :lol:

Perhaps I missed it but were you able to buff out the scratches in the acrylic?

Keith

[justinl]

congrats on the TOTM brad! well deserved for sure

[untamed]

Perhaps I missed it but were you able to buff out the scratches in the acrylic?

Keith

The scratching that was being done by the male Blue Throat trigger have been dealt with....but there is a constant accumulation of assorted scratches caused by the fish and urchins. I have not spent much time working on them, but have all the tools necessary to remove any scratches that truly bother me.

The part about the scratches that tends to bother me the most is that the scratches provide a foothold for algae/coraline to grow. The mag cleaner doesn't remove the algae from the scratches and I have to reach into the tank and manually rub the algae out off scratches.

I've also found that really small scratches just tend to go away on their own through regular mag float cleaning.

[Delphinus]

For the deep scratches that for which repeated magfloat cleaning won't remove, and thus you would have to use those tools you speak of - would you have to drain the tank to do so, or can you work on the scratches below the waterline?

[fishytime]

TOTM. Well deserved. Just one question. What took so long:lol: Ive been following this one since I joined the site and I think it was TOTM material back then. Guess it just needed to grow in before it became official.

[untamed]

For the deep scratches that for which repeated magfloat cleaning won't remove, and thus you would have to use those tools you speak of - would you have to drain the tank to do so, or can you work on the scratches below the waterline?

No need to drain the tank. It is just a lot of different grades of very fine sandpaper. While you can attach the sandpapers to a magfloat, it is more effective to just reach in there and polish by hand. It is just really tiring, so it has to be a really bad scratch before I'm willing to do it.

[untamed]

Lately, I've noticed small areas on some coral that look dead. These are small areas where there is no polyps...just barren white skeleton. At first, I thought that some sand had landed there and caused that spot to die.

Here's a photo of what I'm looking at.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0508.jpg

I suspected that my Majestic angel was nipping the polyps off, but further observation suggests that only investigates the white spots on the coral that are already dead. Even that, he does extremely rarely so he could not be the culprit I originally suspected.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0507.jpg

[JDigital]

"SPS Polyps.... it's a hell of drug!".. :lol:

Would one angel be able to decimate your sps population?

[untamed]

"SPS Polyps.... it's a hell of drug!".. :lol:

Would one angel be able to decimate your sps population?


I doubt it. I suppose we are going to find out. He will get bigger...

[Trigger Man]

I like this experiment, if it proves that one growing fish can not wipe out all your sps then i may need to try out a couple of coral eating butterflys in a larger tank with plenty of SPS.

[Whatigot]

think of it as a clown goby in a smaller tankw ith smaller sps.
Will do damage, sometimes pretty noticably but won't knock out a tanks worth.

[spoot]

Hey untamed, you got any pictures or your unicorn? I didn't see it in the vid with the vlamingi playing with the sponge.

[Keri]

what kind of anemone is in the pic behind your majestic?

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0507.jpg

[fishytime]

what kind of anemone is in the pic behind your majestic?

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0507.jpg

Kinda looks like a big mojano???

[untamed]

Hey untamed, you got any pictures or your unicorn? I didn't see it in the vid with the vlamingi playing with the sponge.

That's Lancelot. He is just starting to develop a horn. He's also a bit camera shy and has an odd habit of eating air bubbles.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/101_0167.jpg

Wow...looking at the size of the coral in this photo makes me realize this is an old photo.

[untamed]

what kind of anemone is in the pic behind your majestic?




I have two of them. Green/Gold/White. They are very pretty, about 5" diametre. They were hitchikers on the Florida live rock. The TampaBay Saltwater website calls them "Flower Anemones", but I've also heard them called "Sand anemones".

[untamed]

RC wanted some full room shots...so I shot these today. As I said there...I'm no interior decorator, but these do provide some scale to the tank.

Really...just an excuse for an update. Tank is OK. Still more cyano than I would prefer.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/100_0210.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/100_0213.jpg

[Delphinus]

RC wanted some full room shots...

hmmm this is a hint perchance of something in the future?? :cool:

[untamed]

hmmm this is a hint perchance of something in the future?? :cool:

No...no, it wasn't a personal request or anything. There is just a thread in there where they were asking for "full room" shots, so I thought I would contribute.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=13897616#post13897616

[Lance]

No...no, it wasn't a personal request or anything. There is just a thread in there where they were asking for "full room" shots, so I thought I would contribute.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=13897616#post13897616


Damn! I was hoping a Tank of the Month for you.

[untamed]

That conversation about "unicorn chromis" got me thinking that I needed an updated photo of my Unicorn. He is an extremely difficult fish to photograph. Are you getting a horn, Lancelot?...

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0342.jpg

[untamed]

It is difficult to tank any picture of the tank without this guy parking himself in front of you. So I agreed to take his picture, just so he would leave me alone for a while. At 10"+, Freckles is just beginning to show signs of his adult colouration. His face is getting a bit lighter and his tail has started to show signs of streamers.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0329.jpg

[Delphinus]

I'm curious how much mysis these guys go through in a week? :)

Tank's looking great Brad. It's nice to see such a mixture of gorgonians and SPS too. Not very often you see tanks with both doing well.

[untamed]

Ha..ha...they do get mysis every now and again but it is just for fun.

The vlamingi can eat a 4" x 4" piece of nori in one piece.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Freckles looks great.

If I remember correctly, Lancelot was quite shy compared to your other fish. When I was over anyways...he seemed to follow the others but stay in the back.

Nice pics as always!

[untamed]

Yesterday, I gave the tank a day of darkness. The cyano was just getting too much, so I decided to give this a try. I had tried it once before, but I chickened out last time and allowed 1 halide to be on while the lights were raised up.

This time, I didn't let any lights come on at all for about 40 hours. During this time, I fed the fish as normal.

What a dramatic difference! The cyano is 100% gone. Now...it remains to be seen if it will come back or not. If nothing else, I have learned how to make the tank look really good for when we have our next BBQ or frag swap, anyway.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/100_0347.jpg

[Skimmerking]

I see that you have the dreaded red turf algae on your rocks. Have you figured out why you have it i had it on my rocks when i had my 120 gal and it was really bad.

[JDigital]

Damn, I wish I could take pics of this tank.. hahaha..

Looking good. Do you got a before and after tank shot of the Cyano.. like above, but before?

[Snaz]

You have the fattest fish Untamed.

[untamed]

Looking good. Do you got a before and after tank shot of the Cyano.. like above, but before?

Next time it gets bad, I'll make a point of doing a before and after shot... But this shot, taken in January, gives you a pretty good idea of what the sand bed looked like a few days ago.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/aquarium%20views/000_0280-1.jpg

Geez....this was January. I can't believe the size that some of the little frags in this photo have become since then...

[untamed]

I see that you have the dreaded red turf algae on your rocks. Have you figured out why you have it i had it on my rocks when i had my 120 gal and it was really bad.

I suppose I do. I've never really given that algae a 2nd thought. It doesn't seem to be any kind of problem. I assumed that it was naturally part of the Florida rocks. The tangs seem to like it and it stays closely trimmed.

You have the fattest fish Untamed.

...except for the Lookdown! I think the Atlantic Blue is getting a double chin...and the foxface does seem a bit fat....but I firmly believe that my Nasos are shaped the way Nasos are supposed to be shaped. No doubt that my challenges with cyano are related to heavy feeding.

[argan]

Is the Tank web-Cam still working Brad? couldn't get it to show me anything.

[untamed]

Is the Tank web-Cam still working Brad? couldn't get it to show me anything.

Yes, it is working fine. Viewing hours are only 1PM to 10PM PST. You also have to click on the "single" tab in order to see the tank.

http://brads-aquarium.viewnetcam.com:50000

[argan]

ok after 1 pm, thanks

[Pan]

You have the fattest fish Untamed.

Hey what about me...I have just about the fattest wrasse around :)

[untamed]

We lost power up here on Westwood Plateau today for about 4 hours. Believe it or not, this the first power failure I've had since the tank started. It was a pretty nice day today, so it is odd...

The tank seemed just fine throughout. The power failure happened just before lights-on, so the tank was at it's lowest daily temperature. Over the four hours, temp dropped about 2 degrees....from 78 to 76. No fish showed any signs of distress, but I think the starfish seemed to be out-and-about a bit more than normal.

I got my generator out and ready and was probably another hour or so from firing it up when the power returned.

Then, a few hours later, Buster (the white cheek tang) had some kind of accident during lunchtime feeding. I'm not sure if he got slashed by someone or just ran into a piece of coral. He was already not doing really well as he has been fighting some kind of infection/parasite of late. Now, he's going to have to recover from this wound. I hope he makes it.

So far, he continues to behave normally. I think time will tell if this wound becomes infected or not.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0381.jpg

[Pan]

We lost power up here on Westwood Plateau today for about 4 hours. Believe it or not, this the first power failure I've had since the tank started. It was a pretty nice day today, so it is odd...

The tank seemed just fine throughout. The power failure happened just before lights-on, so the tank was at it's lowest daily temperature. Over the four hours, temp dropped about 2 degrees....from 78 to 76. No fish showed any signs of distress, but I think the starfish seemed to be out-and-about a bit more than normal.

I got my generator out and ready and was probably another hour or so from firing it up when the power returned.

Then, a few hours later, Buster (the white cheek tang) had some kind of accident during lunchtime feeding. I'm not sure if he got slashed by someone or just ran into a piece of coral. He was already not doing really well as he has been fighting some kind of infection/parasite of late. Now, he's going to have to recover from this wound. I hope he makes it.

So far, he continues to behave normally. I think time will tell if this wound becomes infected or not.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0381.jpg
Looks like a slash from a tang to me and Lymphocytis.

http://www.chucksaddiction.com/
Links left sidebar to info-links---->disease. Scroll down to lymphocytis

[JDigital]

That slash looks NASTY... Ouch!! Hope he recovers. I love White Cheeks..

[marie]

Every year (for the last 7 yrs) at this time my tank goes through a cyano cycle as well. In the past I've tried to fight it aggressively to no avail, this year I'm going to let in run its course to see if it will clear up on its own in the same time frame as the other years.

[Snappy]

Good luck with that fish, I hope it makes it.

[banditpowdercoat]

Every year (for the last 7 yrs) at this time my tank goes through a cyano cycle as well. In the past I've tried to fight it aggressively to no avail, this year I'm going to let in run its course to see if it will clear up on its own in the same time frame as the other years.
Ive been battling what I think is Cyano, or Dino's for about a month now. Wonder if its related????? Every 2 days my rocks and sand are covered with red/brown. Turkey baster gets it off easy though.... Makes me mad

[untamed]

My "one day of darkness" experiment continues...It has been almost three weeks since the single day of darkness and my cyano has not yet returned to where it was. The tank was extremely clean for 1 week...much, much better than usual for the 2nd week and still very good by the 3rd week.

It would seem that a single day of darkness will last me about 1 month to keep cyano under control.

[untamed]

It has been 10 days since Buster got slashed (I now presume by the Achilles). It would seem that he will recover completely within 2 weeks.

Dec 31
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0381.jpg

Jan 10
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0447.jpg

[Lance]

Wow! Unreal how fast they heal.

[spoot]

Is his fuzz falling off?

[untamed]

Is his fuzz falling off?

I would say that his fuzzy spots have not improved and may be slightly worse over the past two weeks.

[fishytime]

How is the PBT? Another question, I noticed that in both pics of your pbt he is in the same area of your tank. What is it that he likes there, or is drawn to???

[untamed]

How is the PBT? Another question, I noticed that in both pics of your pbt he is in the same area of your tank. What is it that he likes there, or is drawn to???

No significant change to the A. japonicus (aka White Cheek, aka Powder Brown). I'm feeding a variety of antibiotics/antifungals. A few weeks of Selcon in the food did nothing. He continues to eat well.

He does have a favourite hang out. It is an area that is too small for the achilles to get into. This just means that each time they have a bit of a scrap, it usually ends with him mounting a defence from his sheltered area. I was able to take those photos by waiting for him to return to his comfort zone along his usual route.

[untamed]

One of the behaviours that I really enjoy seeing is how the fish use colour changes to express their state of mind.

I've noticed that one of the fish that does this dramatically is the unicorn tang (N. unicornis). This is his dark phase, which is only displayed when near the cleaner shrimp. He also has a light phase, also used when near the cleaner shrimp and a camouflage colour when sleeping. That's four very different colour schemes and he can alter them within about 2 seconds.

Look at the change in the yellow surrounding his eye:
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0457.jpg

Normally, he looks like this:
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0418.jpg

[mseepman]

Pretty cool. Looking forward to someday having a tank large enough to enjoy these guys myself.

[untamed]

Pretty cool. Looking forward to someday having a tank large enough to enjoy these guys myself.


I'm not sure that I have a tank large enough to enjoy them! I suppose it seems ok for now.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

My Naso Tang does the same thing when he is being cleaned by my cleaner wrasse. He will get very, very dark. At first it worried me.

Whats really funny about my Naso, is that he likes to get cleaned (mostly mouth) but if the wrasse goes near his gills, the tang gets upset and chases him around! I found this very strange.

[BCOrchidGuy]

Brad, I have to admit I didn't read the entire thread, I've only got a few hours before I have to leave for work. I have the Wilkerson(?) book on clowns if you want to borrow it, it has a lot of information on raising clown. My ex lives on Blue Mtn and has my son so I am out there to pick him up 3 days a week so I could drop it by if you are interested.

Douglas

[untamed]

Brad, I have to admit I didn't read the entire thread, I've only got a few hours before I have to leave for work. I have the Wilkerson(?) book on clowns if you want to borrow it, it has a lot of information on raising clown. My ex lives on Blue Mtn and has my son so I am out there to pick him up 3 days a week so I could drop it by if you are interested.

Douglas

Thanks for thinking of me, but I know enough about raising clowns to know that I'm not willing to do it any time soon. Might make a good retirement project someday.... Now that I think about it, that might be sooner than I think!

And if you are interested in coming by just to see the tank, you don't need to bring a book as entry fee. Send me a PM if you like.

[hillegom]

It has taken me a few days, but finally read the whole thread.
Excellent work Brad! Keep it up. I have learned a lot here.
Thank you

[untamed]

With some sadness I announce that Buster, the White Cheek Tang has succumbed to complications related to crypto (saltwater ich).

He first displayed symptoms of some sort of secondary skin problems in late December. He continued to eat well and behave normally right until the very end. He lost significant body weight in the last 2 days in spite of continued normal eating.

My theory is that ich damaged his skin so badly that some sort of bacterial/fungal/viral infection took over. No other fish in the tank has displayed any similar symptom.

Here is a shot from his last evening.... Poor guy. I let him down.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/100_0496.jpg

From happier times....
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/101_0149.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/th_100_0222.jpg (http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Fish%20pictures/?action=view&current=100_0222.flv)

[Lance]

:sad:

[Mrfish55]

Sorry to hear that, I hate loosing anything never mind a fish like that, hope it does'nt effect any of the others. Great video by the way.

[christyf5]

Aww, that sucks. Sorry to hear that Brad :neutral:

[lastlight]

Sucks to read that. You can get pretty attached to these guys.

[hillegom]

Too bad about the tang, I hate losing fish

[bignose]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Your video looked like it was very active and fun to watch.

[TheRealBigAL]

Sorry for your loss brad :cry:

[BlueAbyss]

:sad: Sorry for your loss, he was a beautiful fish.

[JDigital]

Damn... Sorry to hear man!

Great video though of better times.

[tonytboss]

Sorry Brad
The frag you gave me is still going strong ... thanks

[Trigger Man]

Sorry to hear about the tang, I thought it would have pulled through.

[untamed]

The tank is approaching two years old now. It seems to have an entirely new set of challenges now.

Some of the faster growing coral heads are simply collapsing under their own weight. Well...Freckles (aka "the submarine") might give them a gentle nudge. But they inevitably snap off right at their tiny base.

Here's today's frag!
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0500.jpg

As the coral gets really large, the inner/lower areas don't get any light and tend to die off. As a result the coral just adds weight to it's top and never reinforces the bottom. It would seem that a healthy dose of constant trimming is the ticket to longer term, sustainable, large coral heads. (at least with faster growing types)

[Trigger Man]

I wonder why this does not happen in the ocean. I was wondering the same thing as I notice that my bases of many of my corals don't seem very thick, and I figure this may be caused by my dosing which causes the coral to grow quickly and more slender, where as without dosing maybe the coral would have grown slower but thicker. So do you dose your tank (i don't remember)?

The tank is approaching two years old now. It seems to have an entirely new set of challenges now.

Some of the faster growing coral heads are simply collapsing under their own weight. Well...Freckles (aka "the submarine") might give them a gentle nudge. But they inevitably snap off right at their tiny base.

Here's today's frag!
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/100_0500.jpg

As the coral gets really large, the inner/lower areas don't get any light and tend to die off. As a result the coral just adds weight to it's top and never reinforces the bottom. It would seem that a healthy dose of constant trimming is the ticket to longer term, sustainable, large coral heads. (at least with faster growing types)

[untamed]

I suppose in the wild this might just collapse on itself and spread/grow over again. Between storms and waves I would expect that wild coral never gets this far extended.

I don't generally dose anything to my tank that would cause unusually fast growth, but I suspect my fake reef is more consistently sunny than a real one.

I'm not shedding a tear for this particular coral. I have other very large pieces of this same coral and you can see that it wasn't very healthy in general.

[Rbacchiega]

I've often thought that with regular trimming you would also be able to have the coral spread out rather than just up...sort of like trimming hedges...

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I suppose in the wild this might just collapse on itself and spread/grow over again. Between storms and waves I would expect that wild coral never gets this far extended.

I don't generally dose anything to my tank that would cause unusually fast growth, but I suspect my fake reef is more consistently sunny than a real one.

I'm not shedding a tear for this particular coral. I have other very large pieces of this same coral and you can see that it wasn't very healthy in general.

What do you mean by far extended? Just curious because obviously corals in the ocean get many, many times larger than this without breaking off. I went on a dive after a pretty bad storm in Australia and was surprised by how little damage was done to the reef. Seems that wild colonies are just growing much stronger?

[Delphinus]

Here's my unsolicited $0.02 :)

I think our tanks are more like gardens than they are forests, ie., they are cultivated garden reefs, not wild reefs. Thus, it's not unreasonable to expect to have to prune and manage over the long term to maintain a balance. Like plants, some corals will grow faster and some will grow slower. Think about how a forest grows, there are distinct stages or phases. First, the quick growers fill in and compete for space, but tend to be weaker or shorter lived, followed by slower growing but longer living species. (Like here in Alberta at least, Poplars are usually among the first trees to grow after an area is forested, they live for about 30 years or so, they get ridiculously tall in that timeframe, too big for their own trunks to support their own weight, so they start dieing off or falling in windstorms, leaving openings for slower growing, but longer living or stronger tree species to fill in. And so on...)

So I would think that in the wild reefs, storms and waves do likely create some damage among species like staghorns, which break off quickly. I suspect that you don't see as much damage as you expect because there is a greater diversity of species. But I have seen reefs where the ocean floor was literally littered with staghorn rubble, which in turn is brilliant fish habitat.

But because our reef tanks tend to be collections of things that interest us, it tends to be a more random assortment of species that may not necessarily inhabit reefs in the same zones or phases in the wild.

Plus there's just the challenges of maintaining ideal flow conditions, which gets harder as pieces grow, plus the challenges of static light locations, and the fact that the bases always get shaded .... I am truly amazed when someone can grow large pieces of coral without this sort of thing happening..

This thread over at RC has some amazing large specimens:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1561866

Look at this beast in particular:
http://www.wamas.org/forums/uploads/1232471330/gallery_143_276_103724.jpg

How on earth someone manages to grow a piece like that in a tank, is simply beyond me. That's incredible.

[Trigger Man]

just looked over the link, and all I can say is wow, I can't imagine my corals ever getting to those sizes.

[untamed]

People laugh when I say it took me 1 year to build the aquarium...but it then took me another two years to finally finish the bar! Today, it is finally done! So...I had a rum 'n coke to celebrate!

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Aquarium%20Construction/100_0505.jpg

As the bar has two mirrored walls, all the fish found the other aquarium very interesting....

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r118/untamed_photos/Aquarium%20Construction/100_0502-1.jpg

[Chaloupa]

OUTSTANDING! WOW just isn't enough. :biggrin:

[BlueAbyss]

Gah, I love your tank :biggrin: How's everything faring?

[untamed]

Gah, I love your tank :biggrin: How's everything faring?

Dealing with some coral death at the moment, actually. I had this spot on where a colony of hynophora used to be, and it kept growing back and killing other coral nearby. So I attacked it that spot with a scrub brush to try to kill it. It worked, but it has triggered an outbreak of STN death in my other two large colonies of hynophora, which has also caused some tissue loss for nearby stylos. I think I'm going to lose one entire colony of the hynophora before this is done.

So...you know...pretty typical stuff.